Tag Archives: British

Amstrad CPC, Electric Dreams

Spindizzy, Amstrad CPC

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I was always under the impression that Paul Shirley‘s classic Spindizzy originated on the Commodore 64 and was ported to other machines, but this interview with Shirley says that the game actually originated on the CPC and was ported to other systems. Since Paul Shirley coded the C64 version himself I had guessed that that was a logical assumption to make, but it now looks to be wrong.

The Amstrad version of Spindizzy – one of the best games ever made in my humble opinion – is pretty much perfect, with crisp, clean, detailed graphics and responsive controls.

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Amstrad CPC, Gang of Five, Virgin Games

Sorcery Plus, Amstrad CPC

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Sorcery Plus is an expanded version of the best-selling Amstrad game Sorcery, catering for 128K disk-based machines and featuring new rooms and other enhancements. It was developed by Gang of Five and published by Virgin Games in 1985.

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Amstrad CPC, Ocean Software, Taito

Chase HQ, Amstrad CPC

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Ocean Software‘s 1989 conversion of Taito‘s classic arcade race game, Chase HQ, is a bit of a doozy on the Amstrad. While it doesn’t have quite the impact that its amazing arcade parent does, it does do a very good job of trying to recreate its high-octane, criminal-chasing thrills.

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Amstrad CPC, Celebration

Amstrad CPC Special

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The Amstrad Colour Personal Computer (CPC) is a family of 8-bit home computers that were designed and manufactured by British company Amstrad (the infamous one led by Alan Sugar), and marketed as competition to the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum from 1984 onward.

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Bullfrog Productions, Electronic Arts, gog.com, MS-DOS, PC

Theme Hospital, PC

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Theme Hospital is a humorous, satirical hospital management simulator from legendary British developer Bullfrog Productions. It’s a sort of sequel to the popular Theme Park and was first published by Electronic Arts in 1997.

The game has a similar isometric viewpoint to Theme Park and successfully mixes jolly, cartoony gameplay with serious themes, such as budget balancing, public health, and customer satisfaction.

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Bullfrog Productions, Electronic Arts, MS-DOS, PC

Theme Park, PC

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Developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts in 1994, Theme Park is a fun business management simulation where you have to design and build a successful theme park full of rides, food, employees, and queues in order to turn a profit and beat the competition.

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Incentive, ZX Spectrum

Moon Cresta, ZX Spectrum

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The Spectrum conversion of Nichibutsu‘s classic 1980 arcade game Moon Cresta was published by Incentive Software in 1985 and it is considered to be very good, considering the machine’s limitations.

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Faster Than Light, Gargoyle Games, ZX Spectrum

Light Force, ZX Spectrum

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Light Force is one of the best vertically-scrolling shoot ’em ups on the ZX Spectrum and it was published by Faster Than Light in 1986. It was written by Greg Follis and Roy Carter – the same guys who wrote the classic Spectrum games Tir Na Nog, Dun Darach and Marsport for Gargoyle Games.

The game is a fairly straightforward – if very playable – shooter, with smooth-scrolling backgrounds that have destructible elements, but it is so well presented that it’s hard not to be impressed.

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